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Broncos, with overflowing riches at WR, plan to pressure opposing D's

Already, the Broncos had one receiver, Demaryius Thomas, who had 94 catches last year, and another, Eric Decker, who had 85.

To this prolific passing game the Broncos added Welker, who in six previous seasons with the New England Patriots averaged 112 receptions.

Peyton Manning may be the one of the best quarterbacks of all time, but if he wants to keep his passing game diversified, he can't dish 94 catches to Thomas, 85 to Decker and 112 to Welker in the same season. Somebody has to take fewer.

"If I have to catch 112 balls, that probably means we're in trouble," Welker said Monday after his first practice with the Broncos.

Photos: NFL

There you go. Problem solved. Welker not only doesn't expect to catch 112 passes now that he's with the Broncos, he believes it's better if he doesn't.

"(The catches) are not the goal," Welker said. "The goal is to go out there and help your team win games. However many catches that is, however many blocks that takes, however many routes I've got to run, whatever. I think we all feel the same way about that."

What Welker's former Patriots and current Broncos have in common are two of the league's top passing games anchored by two of the best quarterbacks in Manning and New England's Tom Brady.

The difference is in where the ball goes. With the notable exception of Randy Moss' record-setting 2007 season, the Patriots don't feature their outside receivers. In recent years, they have become a tight end-slot attack.

Not so the Broncos. For all the questions about Manning's arm strength last year, he threw enough outside the numbers to help Thomas and Decker develop into one of the NFL's top receiver tandems.

Working against the first-team defense Monday, Manning did complete a few passes to Welker, but it was easy to tell the quarterback had played a full season in 2012 with his outside receivers.

Several of Manning's most impressive throws were caught by Thomas and Decker.

The Broncos won't be counting on Peyton Manning to knock down passes, but he fills that role Monday as he tries to distract rookie free agent and fellow quarterback Ryan Katz at Dove Valley. More photos.
(John Leyba, The Denver Post)

"The growth of Decker and Thomas — these two guys, I've seen them grow so much," said Champ Bailey, the Broncos' starting cornerback for going on 10 seasons. "And you think they can't get better — they've gotten better. And it seems like their chemistry with Peyton has gotten better as well."

Welker hasn't been around the Broncos long, but long enough to notice the talent lined up outside him.

"I mean, we have two really good guys. We can't ignore them," Welker said. "If one guy is catching 112 balls, the defense is focusing in on that guy. We want defenses focusing on everybody and having to worry about everybody. That was one of the main reasons I came here."

At this point, let's put the brakes on Welker's selfless spirit. He is willing to take less, and that's great. But it's not like the plan is for Welker to throw the most slot-blocks. It's not like the plan calls for him to go from 112 catches to 50. Manning won't forget his friends, but he won't ignore the new guy, either.

"He's just been an extremely difficult guy to cover one-on-one, and then you can tell by watching him on film — he's an extremely smart player," Manning said. "He has an excellent feel for zone coverage. This is just the beginning stages of him getting comfortable in this offense, and he and I getting on the same page.

"We put a lot of time in together as individuals, but just versus air. We spent a lot of time talking as well. Now that we're going against the defense, we'll continue to learn, and there will be some things we have to work through, but that's what OTAs and training camp are for."

By adding Welker to Thomas and Decker, the Broncos have the basketball equivalent of three 30-point scorers. And Manning is the point guard handling the only ball. How will he distribute?

"What we try to develop around here is the idea that everyone wants to touch it, everybody wants the ball," Broncos coach John Fox said. "But what our guys understand is this game is about matchups. And you put it on the defense who gets the ball each game.

"I think the defense dictates who the ball goes to that particular game. You can't double everyone. I just know that, Lord willing, everyone stays healthy, we'll have three pretty tough matchups."